Pay Attention, The People Are Speaking

I consider Kerry a dear friend of mine. He’s a serious man, but ironically, we hardly ever have serious conversations. Most of the time, we’re batting the breeze, talking about superheroes and what our choice mutation would be in the world of X-men. So it was a surprise to me when he called out of the blue to discuss ‘the state of the world’. It was a serious conversation, mostly about how we need to ‘woo” the fence-sitters towards “us” in this on-going battle for our Constitution, and possibly our humanity, in the spirit that it was intended.

He was speaking about his friends who ‘were genuinely unsure about what to think’ about the current socio-political situation in the country. It was sweet how he had unconsciously taken on the burden of educating them, to literally bring them to the light as it were. As if he had access to some special rice in his diet that made him a more informed and empathetic human being. However, the unfortunate truth is, if someone voted for a party - left or right wing - then they’re not fence-sitters. They made a decision and undertook the effort of waking up in the morning, standing in line and punching their name next to a party logo - all to back their decision. Now, either they continue to be satisfied with their decision and there is nothing to discuss. Or they regret it, in which case, their minds have already changed. And the ones who didn't vote? Apathetic, uninvested, and probably further along the evolutionary arc than we know. But more on that in a bit.

The uncomfortable truth is that all those people - our friends - asking for reasons to change their mind - while countering with arguments the ‘other side’ have made - are simply looking for a way to maintain appearances of being open-minded, involved and caring people. Or maybe this is their way of forgiving themselves for changing their minds - or not being able to, despite 'trying'. That way, the burden of their decisions don't lie with them but on you, the 'more evolved' human being, the more caring, the more empathetic. If even *you* couldn't change their minds, then it's totally on you, isn't it?

But the truth is, you can’t logic people into caring about others, to be bothered by others' pain. Everyone who has ever ended a romantic relationship will recognise the futility of those “Why don't you understand? We’re in such a good place... just be with me” conversations. All the facts and figures of the world will not teach love or empathy, nor will it teach kindness. This disturbing trend is visible the whole world over, where we’re seeing a global democratic shift towards exclusionist, hard-line ideologies… Could it really be possible that the whole world became sociopathic at the same time?

Or is the change much larger and more fundamental than any we've imagined?

The human population is at an unprecedented high when it comes to sheer numbers. Every day is a little more uncomfortable, with extreme weather, or rising prices, or the steady stream of invective that is the online life. We have the imagination as a species to understand the past and extrapolate into the future, so we also know that as a species, we’re a dangerous one, and due for an extinction event. Given this scenario, could it possibly be an evolutionary advantage that we learn not to care about each other? Caring about each other will only ensure we don’t run our fastest when that tsunami comes, caring about another may ensure that we don’t sacrifice them in our bid to head to the nearest space station. Caring about another could very well mean our own death. 

In the battle for survival, could sociopathy be the mutation that our species is undergoing in order to survive?